One Square Meter
One Square Meter is a creative art piece that makes a compelling case for conservation – a needle-felt sculpture which creatively demonstrates, in tangible form, the link between mobile pastoralism and biodiversity.
It comprises of a knitted carpet (base) into which 20 – 30 different species of sculpted felt plants are woven – a visual representation of the fact that in one square meter of land where mobile pastoralism occurs in some rangelands, you can find up to 40 different species of plants.
Although the creative art piece is at the core of the project, in practice it is much more. Its strong foundations in research, science and self-determined community processes make it a useful tool for engaging decision makers. The creation process enables women wool-workers from different communities to exchange knowledge and learn from one another, and the final piece helps pastoral communities develop funds and support the livelihoods, particularly of women.
One Square Meter is a celebration of mobile pastoralism – a practice which is highly beneficial to nature and the climate, animals, human beings, societies and rural economies – and the people who maintain it.
The Journey Behind the Idea
DiversEarth and Trashumancia y Naturaleza are two of the founding members of the Mediterranean Consortium for Nature and Culture, a partnership that supports cultural practices in the Mediterranean Basin by reinforcing traditional ways of living harmoniously with nature. Early in 2016, during a team meeting in Dar Zaghouane, Tunisia, Trashumancia y Naturaleza astonished everyone with the fact that in Spain one square meter of land where mobile pastoralism occurs can host up to forty different species of plants. That fact stuck in their minds, and they spontaneously started coming up with ideas of how to creatively portray that message.
Wouldn’t it be good if we could make a One Square Meter out of local wools and show the different flower species growing on it?
Our Laneras (‘Wool Workers’)
Each One Square Meter sculpture is an exchange of traditional know-how and solidarity between communities of women. Meet our talented woolworkers below and hear what they have to say about One Square Meter.
DehesaLana
The “Laneras” project and its textile brand “DehesaLana”, began in 2015 with the idea of recovering the value of merino wool in Extremadura, and is part a bigger social cooperative called Actyva.
Led by women in rural areas, the “Laneras” work with wool to bring life back to their lands and revitalize social links, encouraging group and community work. They believe its a way of regenerating sustainability and jobs using local resources that supports mobile pastoralism, rare breeds and biodiversity.
Avukma
The economic and social empowerment of women not only impacts women, but also their children, partners and society as well.
Avukma Producing Women’s Cooperative was established in İzmir in 2015 with the aim of providing voluntary design, communications and marketing resources and support to producing women.
Avukma produces textiles inspired by the nature and culture of Anatolia. Combining traditional knowledge and modern needs, their goal is to revive the traditional production practices of the region.
Wallontu Witral
Wallontu Witral aims to recover and value traditional weaving and dyeing techniques, contributing to the revitalization of the Mapuche culture.
The organisation’s characteristic stamp as artisans is the natural dyeing obtained exclusively from plants and minerals. In this way, they ensure the production of a 100% natural textile piece without adding any chemicals in the process.
Their work seeks to recover the traditional dyeing techniques inherited from Mapuche elders while at the same time protecting theiir health and environment.
Join Us in Growing Our Square Meters
We currently have One Square Meters from Spain, Turkey, Chile, Lebanon, Tunisia, Nepal and India, and are always looking for more regions to join us and help make the case for mobile pastoralism.
If you’re interested in creating a One Square Meter for your country, get in touch. Write to us at [email protected].
Upcoming Exhibitions:
Check back for more information…
One Square Meter has visited:
- IUCN WCC, Hawai’i 2 – 10 Sep ‘16
- Communities, Conservation and Livelihoods Conference, Halifax, Canada 28 – 30 May ‘18
- Alaçatı Alavya Otel, Turkey 8 – 9 Dec ‘18
Latest Resource
Mobile Pastoralism and the World Heritage Convention is our new report on mobile pastoralism and World Heritage sites.
Read it here.
LATEST NEWS
Report: A Case of Benign Neglect
The UN Environment Programme Report: "A case of benign neglect: Knowledge gaps about sustainability in pastoralism and rangelands", which we have contributed to, directly responds to one of the UN resolutions which acknowledges the dearth of information on pastoralism...
Follow
Join up with us on social media using @RLTGlobal #RLTGlobal
Latest Resource
Mobile Pastoralism and the World Heritage Convention is our new report on mobile pastoralism and World Heritage sites.
Read it here.
LATEST NEWS
Report: A Case of Benign Neglect
The UN Environment Programme Report: "A case of benign neglect: Knowledge gaps about sustainability in pastoralism and rangelands", which we have contributed to, directly responds to one of the UN resolutions which acknowledges the dearth of information on pastoralism...
Follow
Join up with us on social media using @RLTGlobal #RLTGlobal